24 Soviet Socialist Republic of Rigel Part 1

PS. From now onwards the [Class] and [Subclass] tabs in the status will be removed as I have realized that having them is just redundant, and in a world where there is no concept of "Status" among the people, like the protagonist does, there really is no need to have these unnecessary add-ons. I hope you all understand. Thank you.

PSS. If possible please read my work on the MANGA TOON app to support me (financially)

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After wandering the forest for over 4 months and hunting hundreds of Magical Beasts and collecting their cores, Add decided to return. He had completed his mission of obtaining the various monster cores many days ago, but planned to leave only after he had got to level 500. It had taken him over 3 months to gather all the required number of monster cores. Thanks to Sylvia who being familiar with the forest, guided him, and helped in killing magical beasts, he was able to finish the mission in less time than he had predicted. They however had only gone a little over two hundred kilometres into the forest of Waldestien which itself spread for thousands of kilometres across. There were countless dangers lurking in there and even Add and Sylvia with all their caution and strength had faced many a life threatening situation. Going even further was just needless risk, as all the magical beasts that he needed could all be found within this range. After he had submitted all the monster cores to the system, and the mission had been completed, the following which a prompt appeared…

[Ding! Since the host's physique is not suited to efficiently store and use mana, the System will now make changes to the host's body. It is recommended that the host find a safe place before this process begins.]

[Do you wish to start? Yes/No]

After Add returned to the place where they had been camping, he went inside his tent. Before that he had told Sylvia to guard him, and no matter what happened she was not allowed to step into his tent. Once he was sure that everything was in order, he clicked on the Yes button. The very next moment, a horrendous burning sensation filled his entire body. His head was even hurting the most as if someone was hammering a stake in his head. It was so very painful, that despite his past life experiences and strong mental fortitude, he was unable to tolerate the pain and fainted. During this time, his body was being broken down and rebuilt at the cellular level, as the system remodelled it to be able to store and use mana. When seen by another person, his entire body was sweating heavily and it appeared as if his entire body was churning and collapsing upon itself over and over again. The original Adolf had no special talent for mana like the majority of other humans, and his physique was not suitable to becoming either a warrior or a mage. In Iseria, as a general rule of thumb, all creatures were only as strong as the amount of mana they had in their body, Add who had a System was one of the very few exceptions.

The process continued, and every once in a while the unconscious boy would moan in agony. Sylvia who was guarding him felt curious as to why he was making such pained sounds. However, she had been told to stay away and that she did. It was only after an entire day of being unconscious that Add finally woke up. The very first thing he felt after waking up was an intense thirst. He quickly took out many bottles of water from the inventory and drunk a lot of water in one go. After his thirst was quenched, a feeling of ravenous hunger assaulted him, he took out many food items such as dried meat, fruits and energy bars and gobbled them all up. It took a while before his hunger was finally satiated. After that he began inspecting his body, which felt the same for the most part, except he had a feeling that there was a new energy in his body.

(So this is what mana feels like?)

It was a strange feeling similar to air, he couldn't see it or trace it but he could feel that he had it inside him. He opened his status to look for any changes.

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STATUS

Name: Add (Adolf Kaiser Weismann)

Race: Human

HP: 2000/2000

MP : 10,000

Level : 500 | Experience Required : 500,850/ 11,213,897

Title : Predator (Equipped)

Passive Skills :

[Unarmed Combat Mastery Lv. 20 (Max)] [Knife Mastery Lv. 20(Max)] [Firearms Mastery Lv. 20 (Max)] [Body Strengthening Lv. 20(Max)] [Sword Mastery Lv. 20(Max)] [Two-Handed Sword Mastery Lv. 20(Max)] [Katana Mastery Lv. 20(Max)][Regeneration Lv. 20 (Max)]

[Endurance Enhancement lv. 20(Max)][Physical Defence Enhancement Lv. 20(Max)][Agility Enhancement Lv. 20(Max)][Improved Efficiency Lv. 20(Max)][Mental Defence Lv. 20(Max)][Thermal Resistance Lv. 20(Max)][Poison Resistance Lv. 20(Max)]

Active Skills :

[Perception Lv. 20(Max)] [Stealth Lv. 20(Max)] [Keen Vision Lv. 20(Max)]

Special Skills :

[Calm Mind (Passive) Lv. 20(Max)] [Imaginary Time (Active) Lv. 6/10] [Contract(Active) Lv. 1/20] [Eidetic Memory (Passive) lv. 1/1]

ATTRIBUTES :

Vitality : 40

Strength : 400

Agility : 180

Defence: 104

Intelligence : 50

Wisdom : 50

Stamina : 150

Charm : 10

Magic Attribute : Neutral

Stat Points : 40

Skill Points : 210

Credit Points : 475,000,000

_ _ _ _ _

The MP tab of the status which was locked before, was now opened and had a large looking value of 10,000. Add questioned the system for some explanations. According to the System, the amount of mana or Mana Points (MP) he had was determined by the Intelligence and Wisdom stats. At first Add thought that increasing these two stats would make him a super genius but as it turned out, after he had increased them to level 20, there was not much effect on his mind anymore. Curious, he had asked the System for an answer only to find out, that his physical potential for increasing intelligence had been used up, and although there were methods to increase the innate potential of his body, they were stupidly expensive and since he had no pressing needs to become a quantum physicist, so he kept those aside. Instead, after he unlocked the ability to use mana, the amount of mana he could store would be proportional to these two stats. He had some stat points left and he allotted them all into Intelligence and wisdom, after which he now had 14,000 MP.

Mana could be used for various purposes, but the amount of mana a person could hold was limited and would exhaust just like a fuel tank of a vehicle ran out of fuel with continuous usage. The mana could be restored naturally by the bodies of creatures over time, which continuously absorbed mana from all around them, or they could absorb it from items such as monster cores, mana crystals etc.

As for magic attribute, it referred to the type of magic a person or creature could use. There were 7 major attributes : Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light , Darkness, and Neutral. A creature with Water attribute could use water type spells and so on. The Neutral attribute was what majority of creatures in Iseria had, their mana had no special attribute and they usually could not use any powerful spells of other attributes, although there were few exceptions. These 7 major attributes also had many branching sub attributes, for example Water included Ice, Light included Recovery (Healing) etc. Add also had Neutral attribute which meant that he could not use any mighty spells, and honestly he did not intend to as well. For him who was accustomed to fighting in the very centre of conflicts, being a wizard which was like a long distance supporter was not attractive at all. He could however use it to strengthen his body even further, and increase his physical abilities as well.

The next thing he observed was that after evolving to level 500, he could now upgrade the skill [Imaginary Time] to level 6. After upgrading it, the time limit had increased to 35 seconds, while the other parameters remained the same. This made the skill even more useful than it already was. Now that he had the ability to use mana, it was time to get some new skills.

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Skill: [Mana Regeneration Boost (Passive) Lv. 1/20]

Description : This skill increases the speed of natural recovery of mana.

Effect : Current Level : +5% to mana regeneration speed.

Next Level : +10% to mana regeneration speed.

Price : 1,000,000 CP

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Skill: [Enhanced Mana Control (Passive) Lv. 1/20]

Description : Allows for more efficient fluid control of mana within the host's body.

Effect : Current Level : +5% to mana control ability.

Next Level : +10% to mana control ability.

Price : 1,000,000 CP

_ _ _ _ _

Skill: [Flash Steps Lv. 1/1]

Description : Enables the host to move at very high speeds.

Mana consumption : 50 per minute.

Price : 5,000,000 CP

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Skill: [Mana Sense Lv. 1/20]

Description : Allows the user to sense the presence of mana and its usage in his immediate surroundings.

Mana consumption : 20 per minute

Effect : Current Level : Detection radius +5 metres

Next Level : Detection Radius +10 metres.

Price : 5,000,000 CP

_ _ _ _ _

Skill: [Steel Skin Lv. /10]

Description : makes the skin as tough as Steel. Greatly increases overall physical defence.

Mana consumption : 100 per minute

Price : 5,000,000 CP

_ _ _ _ _

Skill: [Magic Eyes Lv. 1/20]

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Description : Allows the user to see through and understand the structures of magical spells, arrays and runes. The understanding increases with the level.

Mana consumption : 500 per minute

Price : 20,000,000 CP

_ _ _ _ _

Skill: [Mana Equip Lv. 1/1]

Description : Allows the host to actively use mana to increase strength temporarily. The more mana used, higher the effect.

Mana consumption : variable

Price : 5,000,000 CP

_ _ _ _ _

He chose all these skills after thinking a lot, and these could help him when dealing with mages. Now that he had obtained all these skills and the ability to utilise mana, along with the decently high level, his overall combat strength had greatly increased. However, the experience required for each level had also increased drastically, which meant that levelling up had now become even harder. Sylvia the Arachne, who currently looked like a young elf maiden, had also increased her strength a lot in these past months. While Add collected the monster cores, he left most of the body alone as he had little use for the meat and bones. However, the entire bodies of magical beasts contained a lot of mana and nutrition and though the amount of mana in the body was nowhere close to that in the monster core, it was better than nothing. Sylvia being a magical beast herself had no qualms in devouring as many bodies as she could, as every magical beast she devoured helped make her stronger even just by a bit. Her feeding method was quite impressive though. Unlike regular spiders that use their poison to liquefy the bodies of their prey an Arachne ate more like a human, using her small mouth. Initially when she was still in her original form, her fellow spiders would tear pieces of raw meat or sometimes bring fruits and serve her which she then graciously accepted.

But after contracting Add, she had began spending more of her time in her humanoid form and usually changed back only during battles or when she felt like it. And when Add cooked his food (which was nothing more than roasting meat and adding salt and spices) and shared with her, she acquired a taste for cooked meat and gave up on eating raw meat altogether. She ate a lot though, which was reasonable considering her original body size. Currently she was strong enough to easily win one on one against the Laika Stone serpent which had once almost killed her. Her fellow spiders had also stronger. Her beauty had also become more prominent as she grew stronger. The green bellied huntsman spiders were slowly regaining their original numbers. Eating the leftover bones and meat from the monsters Add and Sylvia hunted, their sizes and strength grew by leaps and bounds.

Add had filled his inventory to the brim with high class meat from the magical beasts and monsters and also purchased a few storage rings from the system which he filled with various monster parts such as scales, horns, bony armour plates, leather etc. These things could become very use full in the future or he could simply sell them for high sums of money.

As usual, Sylvia was wearing her usual one piece dress, made by her own silk. The skirt, however was a little longer and now came down to just below her knees. Much to Add's annoyance, Sylvia did not like to wear undergarments, which led to many an awkward situation in the past months. But since the person in question had no qualms about her own image, Add could only ignore this to the best of his ability.

Sylvia had mentioned during their travel that there were many villages of races like Elves, Werebeasts, and others hidden in Waldestein. However Add had no interest in visiting such places, for now. After he had familiarised himself with the usage of mana, it was time to head back to Rigel. After two weeks of travel, he and Sylvia exited the great forest of Waldestein. As per Add's instructions Sylvia had some of her spiders follow them back, while the rest were left back at the forest. The silk the spiders wove was very sturdy and Add had plans for their silk. Between the town of Rigel and this forest, there was a distance of over 500 kilometres. The area was covered by vast expanse of grasslands and some sparse patches of forests here and there in between. This region was also home to many small and large tribes of humans. In fact he had encountered some groups of tribal people on his way here and they had tried attack him, only to get decimated in return. The land was relatively plain and flat, making travelling easier. There were many monsters as well, from large sluggish herbivores to smaller but much deadlier predators, which stalked the grasslands for prey. Some small rivers and streams also flowed across these lands, providing water in plenty.

But no matter how strong or durable Add had grown, he was not masochistic enough to walk all the distance by foot. So he opened his inventory and took out a certain vehicle. It was a 4 x 4 light utility vehicle, the UAZ-52(model 2025). Based on the age old but proven design of the UAZ 469 (known by many as the soviet jeep'). This was a vehicle that combined a robust design with modern features and technology. The chassis was made stronger using advanced alloys and techniques, which made the vehicle more durable than its predecessor. It had a 120 horsepower diesel engine with better fuel efficiency and an excellent ground clearance of 400 millimetres. It used specially made tubeless tires which had stiff rubber spokes inside, instead of air that supported the weight of the vehicle. The rubber composite used to make the tires was also very tough and durable. As there was no usage of air, the tires were puncture proof. The jeep was a 4 wheel drive with 4 doors, and seating space for 7 passengers. The full load capacity was over 800 kilograms. The system sold it for just, 50,000 CP which was very cheap. Of course he could have used some high tech vehicles or even aircraft, but those would be costly and more eye catching, and since he was not in a hurry, there was no need for such high end vehicles.

Sylvia looked curiously at the strange item. After following Add for 4 months, Sylvia had now been accustomed to the strange items and weapons Add used. What was more surprising was that he seemingly took them out of nowhere and also made them disappear into nowhere. But in Iseria where magic could make the impossible, possible, this was nothing rare. There were certain objects called storage items, such as storage bags, storage rings, and storage bracelets. These objects were made using precious metals and space magic which came under Neutral attribute, and acted as doorways to large isolated spaces inside them, which could be used to store things. These items were very expensive and only nobles and very rich people could afford them. The amount of space inside varied, and the more the space, more was the price. Add's inventory worked on a similar principle, just that it did not have any physical form. Time inside the storage space stopped, so if you kept fruit in such a space, and take it out after a thousand years, it would still be fresh as ever.

"What is this strange thing Human ?"

Sylvia asked in her beautiful but detached voice. Although Add had told her to call him by his name, she only referred to him as 'human' but he did not really care much about that. As long as she followed his orders and did not do something that really angered him, he would not mind what she called him.

"This is a jeep." He explained.

"Ji-ip?" The beautiful Elf (Arachne) stuttered while trying to say the word she had never heard before.

"Yes, it's a machine...think of it as a carriage...a metal carriage that is not alive but drinks oil and moves on its own without the need of horses to pull it... Anyway I cannot really explain any more to you right now."

"Machine...? Drinks oil ?" Sylvia was unable to make sense of his words.

He did not really know how to explain to this lady about the wonders of technology. As expected Sylvia looked at the Jeep skeptically and sized it up. She had never actually seen a carriage, since not many people went into Waldestein with carriages, but she knew that humans had a knack for making strange things. Ignoring her confusion, Add took some petrol from the inventory and filled the tank of the Jeep. He then sat down on the vehicle and turned on the ignition key.

*VROOM*

With the turn of the key, the engine revved up and as the accelerator was pressed, the engine roared and the exhaust spewed out smoke. The rhythmic sound of the engine and exhaust, felt strangely attractive, making the Arachne quite intrigued. She had stayed all her life in the forest, not seeing more than monsters and trees. But after she met Add, she had seen many strange and new things thanks to him.

"Alright then, come here and sit down." Add said pointing to the passenger's seat beside him.

Sylvia who was gazing up and down at the jeep, trying to figure out exactly what it was, quickly came inside and sat down. Her posture was still graceful like a queen, but her eyes betrayed her curiosity as they continuously gazed at the interior of the jeep.

"Sit there quietly and don't touch anything." Add reminded as he pulled the seat belt over her.

"This is ?"

"Ah it's called a seat belt. It stops you from jerking around when the jeep is moving..."

As King Class beast, Sylvia probably did not need the seat belt, but Add strapped it on regardless, more of a formality than a necessity. He then changed the gear and with a jolt the Jeep began moving. Initially, Sylvia was a bit cautious, but gradually as time passed she began enjoying the feeling of travelling in this strange thing. The windows were open, so she stuck her head out and felt the cool air hitting her face, and her lips broke into a smile. Add who was watching this from the side was a bit surprised. He shook his head and continued driving.

(I guess, everyone has a child in them...)

A few hundred Green Bellied Huntsman spiders were following the jeep from a distance. Of the thousands of spiders Add had asked Sylvia to chose the strongest ones and take them back to Rigel. He had plans for their silk and the spiders were a powerful force in themselves. However, in doing so the return trip was lengthened as he had to move slowly so that the spiders could keep up. They moved through the grasses and in the cover of trees, not easily detectable at all.

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After 10 days of travel through the grasslands woodlands began to replace the grass and faint silhouettes of mountains could be seen in the distance, the pair of one human and one Arachne finally reached near Rigel. The Jeep was currently driving along a dirt road, its frame jolting with every bump and hollow but the suspension negated most of the shocks offering a rather smooth ride. Since they had started the return journey, they had encountered some monsters, bandits and tribal people along the way who wanted to make trouble, but the spiders who were following behind made short work of all such creatures. Sylvia who was gazing around lazily, looking at the scenery suddenly spotted a pair of buildings near the road. The road was also being blocked by a large wooden beam a metre above the ground, which was placed on two wooden supports on either side of the road. There were a few men there as well. Sylvia who thought that these people were also bandits, was preparing to attack them but Add stopped her. As she raised her brows at him, Add reduced the speed and slowly drove to the men. They were all dressed in Simple dirt coloured uniforms with swords and spears for weapons and metal armour covering the vital parts of their bodies. They also wore the SSH 40 steel helmets with the red star painted at the front.

Clearly these were soldiers belonging to the Red Army! They were among the many groups who were tasked with manning the check posts along the major roads in and out of Rigel. As soon as they saw the jeep coming towards them, they became vigilant, but quickly realised the identity of the man who was driving it. As the Jeep came to a halt and Add stepped out, the soldiers quickly straightened themselves and gave salute.

"""Reporting to the General!"""

"At ease gentlemen. How is it going, any problems ?"

"Reporting to the General! There have been no problems, everything is in order sir!"

The Soldier in charge, who was a Corporal, replied.

"Good. How about your daily lives, you are getting your rations regularly I hope?"

"Yes sir! We have been receiving our rations on time! Our platoon will be replaced by the next one in 5 days sir!"

Add nodded and looked over to the other soldiers, and then continued discussing day to day matters. The soldiers were mostly young men and felt quite stressed talking to the supreme commander of the Red Army. But gradually they began speaking more freely. Sylvia who was bored sitting in the Jeep walked out and tried listening to what the group was saying. But since they were speaking Russian, which she did not know, she was unable to make anything out of their conversation. The soldiers were stunned by her beauty but dared not to ogle her. They had been trained harshly to focus on their work while on duty, and no matter how beautiful she was, since she was together with the general, they did not want to do anything that would put their lives at risk. After discussing with the soldiers for some time, Add returned to the Jeep. The soldiers quickly rotated a crank wheel and the wooden beam was lifted from one side making way for the jeep to pass. As the jeep gradually went out of sight, the soldiers finally relaxed and began talking among themselves.

"Whew, the general has finally returned! It has been a long time since he left."

"Did you see the carriage he was in? It was such a magical item, no horses pulling it, yet still it moves by its own! The General is truly mysterious! Ever since he officially took power 5 years ago, he has been making miracles one after the other!"

"Right, but I have to admit, that he really has the aura of a ruler. I could not help but feel nervous before him."

"Hey! Didn't you all see the girl who was with him? I swear I have not seen a beauty even close to her in my life!"

"Pah! You are just 25 what life!? But really she was truly beautiful! No wonder the General did not have any romantic affairs till now. His taste was actually this high! But they suit each other very well."

The Corporal found them gossiping and became angry. These soldiers were fresh out from the training and still had to learn a lot about the ways of the army. He shouted at them, and the soldiers quickly ran away taking their respective spots as they were supposed to.

Back in the Jeep, Sylvia was looking questioningly at Add ever since they passed the check post. The later felt awkward and finally asked her...

"What ?"

"What language w're thee speaking in backethth're?"

(What language were you speaking in back there?)

"Well it's complicated. I will tell you more once we get back."

After sometime Add retrieved the jeep in his inventory and then he and Sylvia continued on foot. He did not want the common people to see the jeep, as unlike soldiers, the common people were very quick to leak information. As the two walked towards the town, one could see many people placing long wooden poles, some distance away from the sides of the road. These poles were all in line with each other and evenly spaced apart. On both sides of the road, there were large stretches of farmlands on which wheat was growing. The farms also had other crops like potato, corn, vegetables etc. Farmers using simple farm equipment could also be spotted once in a while. There were many people on the road as well, some walking, while others were riding horses and horse drawn carriages.

The town of Rigel had expanded a lot in the past 5 years and the old wooden wall which surrounded the town was replaced with a taller brick wall. Tall watchtowers were built just behind the wall to keep watch on any incoming threats. There were also a lot more people now than 5 years ago. Every once in a while, a group of soldiers would be seen patrolling around the town. The most prominent feature however, would be the presence of the red flag which could be seen waving everywhere, it was on the gates, on top of buildings and even as small banners and posters on the walls of buildings. As the two entered the gates, the soldiers saluted in respect while other people who recognised Add looked at him with fear and respect. Sylvia however stole the limelight, as her beauty attracted gazes from everywhere. She was not at all bothered by the looks, to an existence like her, normal humans were of little interest. Finally the two reached the Weismann estate. At the gates of the estate, Add turned to face Sylvia and with a faint smile said,

"Sylvia I hereby welcome you, to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Rigel."

The Soviet Socialist Republic of Rigel (or SSRR) was the new name of the former Weismann territory, and became the first of the states of the Soviet Union in Iseria.

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There were many changes implemented in the SSRR as per the first 5 year plan formulated by Add. As a result more importance was given on increasing the efficiency and yield of agriculture. Simple machines like seed dispensers and tillers which could be pulled by cows and oxen were introduced which reduced labour and wastage of seeds. The use of simple scientific techniques of crop rotation, manure and compost making had also helped in dealing with the poor fertility of the soil. Add had also imported many varieties of crops from other territories and growing wheat and potato was encouraged, as these would be the staple food source for the populace. Cotton was also being grown widely, to support the well doing textile industry. Canals and irrigation ditches were also being dug to bring in the river water, to reduce dependency on rainfall. Recently, the steam engine was introduced which was now being used to draw water from the river for irrigation. Live stock such as cows, hens, sheep, pigs etc. was also being reared in large numbers by the people. Lastly the production of paper was boosted by a huge margin and now SSRR produced the highest quality of paper in Reinglief. As a result of all these efforts, the agricultural production had boomed, increasing appreciably over the years.

The military was also developing steadily. Since training the first group of soldiers, Add had continued to recruit more and more soldiers to increase the size of the Red Army. The size of the army had increased from 100 to over 5000 within these 5 years and hundreds more were undergoing training under the guidance of Kent and many other instructors who were selected from the various groups of cadets that had passed out of training. Most of the new recruits however belonged to the refugees who readily joined for the sake of earning money for their families. The soldiers still used cold weapons like swords and spears as the industrial production of fire arms had not yet began. Still the Red Army was growing into a well disciplined modern force. New soldiers would be sent to battle against monsters and bandits to hone their skills, just like how Add had trained the first group of troops.

Now that the first 5 year plan was coming to its end, Add now shifted his focus to building the industry which would be of pivotal importance to the state. The mines around Rigel which were rich in minerals like iron ore, had been widened and proper roads had been constructed for easier transport of the mined ore. Now it was time to build large furnaces to process this ore. Once he could produce steel, a lot of new machines and weapons could be built. The industrial revolution was about to begin on Iseria. However, while he was busy developing the reborn USSR, many enormous changes were taking place in the northern subcontinent.

_ _ _ _ _

The year was now 1123 of the calendar of light. Over three years ago, the king of Reinglief had finally passed away after suffering from an incurable disease for years. The late king had five children; the eldest two were boys, followed by two girls and lastly another boy. After the death of the king, the Queen was unable to handle the shock, and passed away a few months afterwards as well. This left a void for the ruler of the kingdom, causing the eldest two princes to start fighting for the throne. They had begun gathering their factions for many years now, and once the king and queen were dead, the battles which they had been fighting secretly, became completely open and direct. While the kingdom of Reinglief was facing this turmoil, the neighbouring kingdom of Solia that had been eyeing the lands of Reinglief for many years, got its chance. Right after the death of the queen, Solia declared war on Reinglief, shocking the later. The armies of Reinglief were ill prepared and lacked proper leadership, as the two princes were busy fighting among themselves, and hence were easily crushed by the invading forces of Solia. Millions of Solian troops stormed into the country annihilating entire garrisons, looting and plundering as they went.

By the time the two princes had realised the severity of the situation, hundreds of miles of territory had been captured by the invading armies. Recognising the threat, the princes temporarily ceased their internal conflicts and mobilized their troops to stop the invading armies, however the armies of the two princes were ill prepared when compared to the Solian armies who had been secretly preparing for war for many years. Unsurprisingly, the Reingliefian armies suffered defeat after defeat and were continuously pushed back. Only after a third of the territories were lost, were the able to halt the invasion. Using fortified cities and drafting millions of more people, they were able to bring the war to a stalemate. The war was still going on, with Solian armies continuously trying to break through and reach the capital city of Lonshinton. Once the capital fell, the war would effectively be over! Fortunately, the many fortresses and fortified cities were holding, and stopping the Solian armies from advancing further, the situation however was serious with millions dead and more dying every day while many more were being forced to leave their homes and escape. The control of the royal family over the nobles was also weakening and crime and poverty were widespread.

The SSRR had managed to profit a lot by this war. As the scientific knowledge brought by Add was employed in the production sector, the production of basic commodities like clothes, leather, metal, paper etc. which were required in large numbers were greatly increased. In fact, the SSRR contributed to almost 25% of the entire production of these commodities in Reinglief. The state government exported these commodities to the nobles and the royal armies who were fighting the war, and earned large amounts of money. And since the trade was directly controlled by the Central Government, all the profits were obtained directly by the government. Add however, had given strict instructions that the workers who were working in the workshops and factories, would have to be given bonuses based on how much profit the factory was raking in. He knew well, as to what the discontent of the workers could lead to, so fair pay had to be ensured at all costs. Still, even after paying bonuses to the workers, there was a lot of money left which was mostly directed towards militarization and developmental purposes. The good thing however was that thousands of people were getting jobs as a result of these two projects.

Another consequence of the war was that millions of refugees were displaced from their homes due to the war and many of them arrived at Rigel, which had become a prominent city in recent times and to the refugees, who had lost everything, promised opportunities to start over. Add had always been worried about the sparse population of the former Weismann territory, but due to the arrival of refugees the population increased rapidly. It has to be known that most nobles despised refugees as they were dirt poor and unable to pay taxes. As a result most nobles were empathetic towards them and did not do anything to help them, while some nobles actively drove the refugees out of their territories. Only a few kind hearted nobles tried to help these refugees but they were just a small minority. Amidst this situation, a rumour was spreading that Marquis Weismann was accepting refugees in his territory and even providing some of them with jobs. This rumour was like a ray of hope to the despairing refugees and many of those who were near the SSRR flocked towards it, in hopes of salvation. The rumour was of course started and spread by the undercover agents of the KGB, under instructions from Add who was happy to accept the refugees, as he lacked man power.

_ _ _ _ _

After returning to the mansion and arranging for a place for Sylvia to stay Add called for Walter and went to his office to study the various reports and documents which had been piling up since the past few months. After going through them, and finding no serious issues, he kept them aside. Walter and the officials had managed the matters very well. The majority of the new officials were young people who had been trained by Walter himself, and they were very loyal to Add.

"Mr. Walter…"

"Yes milord?"

"Let's go meet the dwarves."

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